


It Could Have Been Me

by GemNika



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Canon, Celestial Mage Cobra, CoLu Week 2016, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Implied/Referenced Torture, Loss of Virginity, Magic Swap, Miscommunication, Past Brainwashing, Poison Slayer Lucy, Romance, Scars, Self-Acceptance, Self-Doubt, The Hobbit References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:22:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16431983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemNika/pseuds/GemNika
Summary: They first met as enemies, with her working for Brain and him trying to stop the Oracion Seis. He never forgot about her, regardless of their time spent apart. How different things could have been, if he'd been the one Brain took from the Tower of Heaven instead of her.





	It Could Have Been Me

 

Erik Scarlet ran up the streets of the ancient Nirvit civilization, his amethyst eyes narrowed while he looked for a sign of any of the Demon Generals trying to stop him. Angel was already down, thanks to his use of  _Urano Metria_ , but there was still more that needed to be done. The fact that the city was moving in the first place was definitely not a good sign. Especially since Erza, his sister and teammate, had said she was going to talk some sense into Jellal concerning Nirvana.

He knew they had a past. He'd been there and escaped the Tower of Heaven with her that day so long ago.

Erik also knew that Erza had been in the huge pillar of light that had shot up from the ground before the whole place grew fucking octopus legs and started walking around.

Natsu and Happy had flown away, and he was stuck trying to follow behind them.

Wherever the Fire Dragon Slayer went, there was bound to be trouble.

Well, with Erik's luck, or general lack thereof, wherever  _he_  was at, there was trouble.

His feet came to a screeching halt as a body crashed to the ground in front of him, and his hand instantly sought out the golden keys connected to his belt. As the smoke cleared, Erik's eyes widened when he caught sight of a head of salmon-colored hair peeking out from a deep crater. And the little blue cat with wings sprawled across his back.

"Shit, Salamander," he hissed. "What the hell happened to you?"

A feminine scoff off to his right and an odd echoing hiss drew his attention, and the Celestial mage turned to find a blonde woman, with an enormous purple snake with batlike wings coiled around her, glaring down at the Fire Slayer.

' _Wow… Who the hell is she?'_

The woman rolled her eyes and climbed onto the snake's back, taking in the man's delicious caramel skin, and narrowed violet eyes. His beautifully crimson spiked hair. The scent of raspberries and almonds in the air that blew her way. "Sorry about your luck, Raspberry," she growled. "I've got bigger fish to fry."

' _Raspberry? Pretty original, I guess… I hate it, but I don't think anyone has said my hair is the color of raspberries before…'_

He nearly had a coronary when the black leather pants, that he was sure had been vacuum-sealed to her, accentuated the fine curve of her ass. Her breasts were nearly falling out of a deep crimson corset. Patent leather combat boots laced up her slender legs, stopping halfway up her calves.

What he really noticed was how her eyes were the same color as his, just a whole lot more wicked, filled with hatred and disgust. The vicious snarl pulling at her upper lip to display pointed canines he'd only ever seen on Natsu and Gajeel. Blonde hair flowing down just past her shoulders in twin braids.

It seemed that Natsu was down for the count for a little while, and although Erik was feeling pretty damn drained from his own fight with Angel - considering he'd only ever used that particular spell once before, and it hadn't ended very well for him or the training grounds behind the guild - he also knew that the blonde before him was one of the only two women in the Oracion Seis. If only he could remember her name…

Her amethyst eyes narrowed, the snake pausing to turn its bright green eyes toward him and giving him a nearly identical look.

"You took out Angel, huh?" she asked. "I've gotta say, I'm surprised."

"That's what someone gets when they mistreat their spirits," he replied.

Hey eyes cut down to his hip. "Ooh, another Celestial mage. Yeah, I'm good. You're not worth my time. You might want to help out your friend there, though; my poison's on the verge of killing him."

"Poison?"

"You don't know," she chuckled. Watching his eyes widen as she brought her hands from behind her back, showcasing the crimson and white scales covering her arms, the claws that took place over her hands, was so damn gratifying. "The name's Viper. Poison Dragon Slayer of the Oracion Seis."

"P-Poison Dragon Slayer?!"

She stepped down from the snake again, slinking toward the maroon haired mage as small tendrils of poison leaked from between her lips and off of her claw-tipped fingers. "You've got three Slayers, and you know a fourth. Why is that so surprising?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I can hear you," she whispered, a wicked grin pulling at her soft pink lips. "I can hear it all. Your fear, your confusion… And your future…"

"My future… What are you talking about?"

"Oh," she laughed. "Just that you're not going to be alive much longer. God, it sounds so…"

He took a small step back when she visibly shivered, licking her lips.  _'Okay, we've gone from sexy to funny farm crazy. No, she's putting the funny farm to shame. Lock her up and throw away the key, universe.'_

"So…  _Delicious_." She tilted her head to one side, grinning as the punch he'd sent at her missed entirely. "You'll have to try harder than that."

Erik growled and jumped away from her, keeping himself between her and Natsu. "Open, Gate of the-"

"Oh, you've got Taurus?" she growled, laughing when his concentration broke before even pulling the key from his belt and causing the summon to fail.

"What the hell?"

"I  _hear_  you," she crooned. "You've got some pretty good plans, but I've heard them all. Virgo to dig some holes. Taurus with brute strength. Sagittarius in case I hop on my snake and start flying around. Really…" She sighed as the snake slithered over, leaning back against its body while its snout brushed over her cheek. "Try harder."

Erik scowled and reached for his whip, watching as her eyes flashed with rage as it uncoiled and snapped against the ground. "How do you know that?"

"I already told you," she laughed. "I-"

"Yeah, you hear me. What the hell does that mean?"

"Guess you'll have to figure that out!"

His whip arced overhead, lashing at her violently while he tried to think of some way to get past her defenses. She dodged every attack, even going as far as grabbing the end of his whip and yanking him forward.

"I can hear your muscles tensing," she hissed, slashing at him with her claws. Small droplets of his blood dotted the ground. "Your heart beating. Everything…"

"So, you can hear what I'm planning. Like a mind reader."

"Try your  _soul_ ," she laughed. "Go ahead. Attack me!"

His resolve firmed, Erik abandoned his whip and moved in close.

"Feint right, kick left," she said, blocking the kick sailing toward her head. "Right uppercut." Her head tilted back, leaving several inches of space between his fist and her chin. "Left roundhouse, feint low, kick, punch right, right kick, left… Are you getting the picture?"

Erik drew back, panting with tightly clenched teeth. She hadn't taken a single hit from him. He could see a few spots where the blonde had been singed while fighting with Natsu, which meant there  _had_  to be a way to defeat her. His keys required planning, strategy, and there was no way he could use them against someone that could hear his every thought.

"Raspberry's a smart cookie, huh Cubellios?" Viper laughed softly.

_Hissss…_

"Yeah, I guess we should end this. I'm getting bored."

Erik's eyes widened as crimson poison flew from the snake's mouth, arcing back and slithering between Viper's lips. "Fuck, of course she eats poison… Goddamnit…"

" _Poison Dragon's Twin Fang!_ "

Erik cried out as thick waves of poison shot out from her hands, lashing toward him and coiling around his body. He stumbled back, gasping for breath, his vision spotted.

" _Poison Dragon's Roar!_ "

Feet rooted to the ground, Erik readied himself to take the hit head-on, then grunted as he was tackled to the ground where the poison couldn't reach him. His eyes opened as a familiar body landed on top of him, and he grinned at the head of wild ginger hair and sunglasses over bright hazel eyes. "Loke, you dick," he chuckled.

"That's the thanks I get for saving you?" Loke laughed, helping Erik stand and facing their new enemy. "Let's handle this togeth-" His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw the blonde looking at them with a raised brow and a scowl. "Oh stars, is it my birthday?"

"And you got on Angel's ass about using her spirits," Viper spat.

"Angel used them as tools!" Erik coughed. "I don't! I fight  _with_  them."

"I'll be a tool," Loke rasped, eying the blonde up and down. "For a little while, anyway."

Viper's eyes closed for a moment, a small laugh escaping her. "Too bad for you, Leo," she hissed. She jumped onto Cubellios' back, soaring through the sky as the spirit's fists started glowing gold. Scores of light and random lashes of Erik's whip were sent at her, but there was nothing they could do to stop her. She knew it.

"Shit, where is she?!" Erik snapped, standing with his back against Loke's while they searched the debris surrounding them for any signs of movement.

"I don't know," Loke growled. "How is she-"

Erik whirled around as Loke gasped, catching the spirit when he stumbled back.

"I can hear you too, little Lion," Viper growled, pulling her claws from his chest and watching as blood pooled on the fabric of his shirt. Loke started to disappear, and she raised her claws, swiping across Erik's chest, a wide grin on her face as she heard her poison coursing through him. "Celestial spirits are so weak."

"Sh-Shut up…" He groaned as the blonde grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. He felt her claws nearly piercing his throat, how they were lifted into the air, heard the quiet hiss of her snake as they flew higher.

"Depending on anyone but yourself is pointless," Viper growled into his ear. "Understand me, Raspberry? It's a lesson you should've learned a long time ago."

"Fuck you," he spat. "My spirits are my friends! My family!"

"And because you relied on them, you're going to die."

"No!" He struggled in her grasp, grinding his teeth as her poisoned claws dug into his chin.  _'No, my spirits are everything to me. They're there when I need them. I love them. I won't let her kill me!'_

"Keep thinking like that," she hissed. "You're dead either way."

"NO!" he roared. The keys on his belt glowed brilliantly, each of the spirits he was contracted to bellowing their support through the bond they shared with their master. Even with his throat raw and his lungs begging for oxygen, he kept yelling. Pouring everything he was into that single sound.

"My ears!" Viper screeched. Her grip on Erik loosened as she grabbed the sides of her head. Her footing faltered, and she fell from Cubellios' back to the ground, the Celestial mage not far behind her.

Erik groaned as he tried to push himself up from the ground, debris digging into his palms and the poison in his veins slowing his movements.

Viper slowly limped over to him, her teeth bared in a snarl. "I… have to defeat you," she rasped. "As one of the six Demon Generals, I…" Her eyes rounded in shock as searing heat shot through her shoulder, blood splattering out onto the ground in front of her, and slowly turned her head to find out who had managed to attack her. "B-Brain…?" she whimpered, falling to her knees.

Erik lifted his head to see a large, tanned man with white hair and tattoos covering his face and chest, grinning down at the blonde from several feet away.  _'How did she not hear him?'_

"You did well, Viper," Brain said softly. "Rest in peace."

She pulled in a wheezing breath, despair washing over her as his soul opened up, assaulting her senses.

' _What trash. I never should have wasted my time with her. Just another pathetic excuse for a Dragon Slayer. She'll be easily replaced, though…'_

Erik struggled to move, his head turning toward Viper when he heard a strangled whimper sounding in her throat.

"Oops, did you hear that?" Brain laughed.

"D-Damn you!" she hissed. "B-Brain… M-My prayer…"

"Worthless," Brain sighed. "Absolutely worthless."

_*.*_

_Lucy smiled while the small purple snake coiled around her shackled, dirty wrist. Her other hand raised, and she giggled when the snake's tongue flicked across her outstretched finger. "Hello, you," she whispered, making sure to stay quiet so the guards wouldn't hear her. "Will you be my friend?"_

_*.*_

" _I'll name you Cubellios," Lucy whispered to the snake in the darkened cell. Screams of other slaves echoed in the air, tormented souls wailed so loudly she clenched her eyes and curled in on herself. Her eyes opened again as she felt its cool scales slithering beneath her dirty clothing and resting on her stomach when two guards came into her cell._

_They dragged her out toward a large man with white hair, and Lucy whimpered in fear. The only thing that helped her relax was that Cubellios was tightly coiled around her stomach. 'Don't leave me alone,' she thought to the snake as five other children were brought in._

_Her only response was a slight tightening of her only friend around her waist._

_*.*_

" _I wish I could hear you," Viper sighed. She whimpered and rubbed the scar between her breasts where the lacrima had been implanted two weeks before._

_The large snake tenderly rubbed her snout over the blonde's chest, then up to her cheek._

_"Can you talk to me, Cubellios? Can I hear you now?" When all Viper heard was a soft hiss, she found tears welling in her eyes. The door to her room opened, revealing Angel and a terrified ram spirit standing just behind her. "Time for training?"_

_"Yeah. Brain wants to see how the lacrima is working out." Angel's eyes narrowed and her lip curled in disgust. "Are you crying?"_

_Viper wiped her eyes while sitting up, giving Cubellios a quick kiss on the snout. "Me?" she smirked. "Hell no. Do I get to use that for a target?"_

_Aries stumbled forward into the room when she was pushed, and Viper sneered at the terrified pinkette. This would be perfect. She could take her anger out on something._

_*.*_

"I-I…" Viper sniffled softly, her blurred vision resting on the large serpentine head and jade eyes of her oldest friend. "I only wanted to hear your voice…"

Erik watched as the blonde collapsed to the ground, reaching out for the snake.

"C-Cubellios…"

"She was your nakama!" Natsu groaned, slowly pushing himself up a short distance away from the other mages on the ground.

"Nakama?" Brain chuckled. "Hardly. She was a tool. A poorly made one, at that."

Erik hissed in pain while trying to push himself up again, looking up in shock when he felt the heat surging from the pink-haired Slayer. "Salamander…"

"Rest up, Erik," Natsu growled. "I'll deal with him."

"I can still help," he shot back.

Natsu paused and glared down at the guild's Celestial mage, his anger at what he'd witnessed pouring off of him in scorching waves. "I need you to find Erza, Erik. Make sure she's alright. And if Viper poisoned you, then you need to rest for a bit."

Erik nodded as Happy swooped down and carried Natsu toward Brain, dropping his head to the ground. Viper sniffled at his side, and he turned to look at her, his brow furrowing while he watched Cubellios gently nuzzling her tear-stained cheek.

"I just w-wanted to hear you, Cu," Viper cried softly. "H-He said… I'd hear you…"

"Hey," Erik whispered. It hurt more than he'd ever imagined possible to slide his hand along the ground to lightly grasp her fingers. He suddenly noticed how soft her fingertips were, how delicate her hand was now that the scales along her arms had disappeared.

"F-Fuck you," she hissed, ripping her hand from his. "You've done enough. G-Get away from me, Raspberry…" She snapped her jaws at him weakly when he reached for her again.

Cubellios hissed in warning, towering over the Fairy Tail mage as he forced himself to sit up.

"I'm not trying to hurt her," Erik said cautiously, keeping his hands away from his keys. When he looked down to the blonde, he winced when he saw the blood seeping from her wound, how it tinted the hair draped over her shoulder a sickening pink. "I can help you. You're bleeding out."

"Good," she spat. "I'm dead anyway. L-Leave me alone…" When Cubellios rounded on her, gently nudging her cheek, Viper sighed.

_Heavy footsteps sounded far in the distance. Determined souls with a single goal in mind._

"Cu, I h-hear them… You need t-to… go…"

"What are you talking about?" Erik frowned.

"Go on, Cu," she whispered, her jaw clenching while she forced herself to kneel. She wrapped an arm around the large snake's head, her injured arm hanging, useless, at her side. "I'll be alright."

Cubellios let out a soft hiss, its tongue tickling the blonde's dirty cheek.

Viper sniffled, a watery laugh escaping her, then tenderly kissed her friend's snout. "I'll find you again, okay? Once I'm able to…"

Erik watched, confused by how gentle the blonde was with the large snake, then tensed his muscles in preparation when the serpent drew back and took to the air. "What the…"

Viper growled and fell forward, glaring at the Fairy Tail mage when he caught her. "Leave her alone," she whispered. "She's innocent."

"Yeah, well-"

"R-Rune Knights… are…" Viper shook her head, her eyes fluttering and her vision darkening. "... coming…"

He sighed as the Poison Slayer went slack in his arms, grimacing when he felt the warmth of her blood seeping into his shirt. His hand brushed over his keys, and he smiled at the familiar head of pink hair that appeared by his side.

"Punishment, Ouji?" Virgo asked, standing from her deep bow.

"Nah, Virgo," Erik smirked. "Maybe later."

The fact that he nearly saw her smile had him shaking his head in amusement.

"Think you can bandage her up?" he asked softly, laying Viper down on the ground. "I get the feeling the Rune Knights won't really care too much about that right away."

Virgo blinked and looked down to the unconscious blonde. "The Poison Dragon Slayer," she whispered, taking in her tattered clothes, shallow breaths, and the gaping wound in her shoulder. "Is she an enemy still?"

"Yeah…"

The maid spirit knelt at her side, a first aid kit appearing in her lap. While she started to bandage the woman, she said, "You might want to refrain from such rigorous activities with women, if this is how they fare afterwards."

"Very funny, Virgo," he chuckled.

She shrugged. "Just a suggestion, Ouji. I could recommend some tools that would-"

"Nope," he laughed. "I'm good. Really. If I need some handcuffs or crazy kink shit, I'll let you know."

A small smirk teased the maid's lips. "Punishment, Ouji?"

"Goddamnit… You're ridiculous," he laughed, collapsing back onto the ground and wiping the sweat from his face. He chanced a glance at the blonde, a sad smile on his lips.

' _All this to hear your friend,'_  he thought.  _'You must have been pretty damn lonely, Viper… Wanting to hear a snake's soul.'_

He thought back to his time spent in the Tower, before he'd met Erza and Jellal. How lonely it had been back then. How he had wished every single day that he had someone to talk to. Someone like him that could feel magic running in their veins.

Erza, getting out of that hellhole with her, and helping her get to Magnolia before she had finally collapsed, had been a godsend. Joining Fairy Tail had brightened his dreary life so much.

Being given his first set of keys from a blonde Celestial mage, just passing through town… He'd found a sense of home with those spirits, even though Aquarius was constantly riding his ass about finding a girlfriend. That woman's dying wish, he'd found out from the mermaid spirit, was to find a mage like her. Someone that would love the keys they'd been given like their own family.

He didn't have a family, aside from Erza, so the more the merrier.

But Viper… She had sent her only friend away. To protect the snake and sacrifice herself.  _'If things had been different, I bet that would be me lying where you are, Viper…'_

* * *

Seven years had flown by when Erik saw her again. The blonde he'd hoped - and hadn't hoped - to never see again, along with the rest of the Oracion Seis. Some crackpot scheme had been hatched to end the world, and he was the lucky winner that was going to get sucked into a fucking geared, goldfish monstrosity to get the job done.

Seven whole years.

He'd found out that the husband of the woman - Layla, he remembered - that gave him his very first keys had found out what she'd done. And, when the group from Fairy Tail disappeared on Tenrou, he'd used the money he had, being the big tycoon he was, to help keep their guild afloat. Things would have gone downhill so fast if it hadn't been for him.

Jude Heartfilia had made sure they all had a home to return to, and Erik had no idea what he could do to repay the man's kindness. He did know, however, that he needed to pay the man a visit. To thank him in any way he could for his generosity. The Heartfilia Konzern was still running strong, so Erik knew he'd be able to find the man once this was all done.

Seven. Motherfucking. Years, though.

The Seis had definitely aged in that time. They had all changed in one way or another. Midnight's hair was longer, his makeup was heavier, and his clothing choices had moved a little closer to full-on drag. Erik was left wondering if there was still a dick in the Reflector mage's pants, they were so goddamn tight.

Angel's dress had more fucking feathers. It was terrifying. She'd switched her magic out to something he didn't entirely understand. At least she wasn't handling spirits anymore.

But Viper, the one he'd really wondered about once they'd discovered just who was behind it all, she had surprised him the most. Her clothes were relatively the same, except now she wore a deep purple trenchcoat with black fur lining the edges, along with the corset, leather pants, and combat boots.

It was the pointed ears that caught his attention first. Never in his lifetime would Erik have considered something that like to look so fucking  _good_  on someone. Every weird Elf fantasy he'd had since reading, and then watching,  _The Lord of the Rings_  was roaring back to life while he looked at the blonde from his place in the creepy, oddly cold, orange, slightly gelatinous, glassy substance that was forcing his body to meld with the Infinity Clock.

Her back was to him, mostly, but he knew it was her. The way she was standing was more tense, rigid. Like she'd been told it was her job to shoulder the weight of the world, and if she so much as let it drop an inch, she would be branded a failure and thrown into the depths of hell for all eternity.

It was her hair that really gave it away for him. He'd seen plenty of blondes in his time, but Viper's was nearly gold, and shined like the night sky on top of a mountain.

When she turned to look at Angel, his heart nearly broke. The long scar running down the right side of her face, the eye clearly missing with the lid closed over. What was it that had happened to her in the seven years they'd been missing? He knew the Oracion Seis had been in prison for at least a few months, but was this the result of being in the prison, or something else?

Not a single smirk trailed over her thinned, strawberry-colored lips. He remembered so easily how much she'd grinned when they'd fought before. Sure, she'd looked like a poster child for  _Psychos Today_ , but there had been life in her then. Now, her lips barely moved when she spoke, so little that he had a hard time telling she was doing it in the first place. Then again, it seemed like only a syllable or two would escape her before she went right back to looking blank.

What made him feel even more curious - because, really, what else was he supposed to do while having everything from his belly button down, plus his arms, already absorbed by the stupid Clock - was that her snake was nowhere to be seen.

She'd seemed to love that snake more than anything. She'd based her 'prayer', something he'd later come to find out had been a lie that Brain had used to bind the other five members of the Seis to him to lock away Zero, on a single wish that she had. Something she'd wanted more than anything.

But if she loved the thing so much, where the hell was it?

She nodded to Midnight and broke from the group as Angel walked out of the cavernous room, making her way to the Celestial mage who didn't look much older than the last time she'd seen him.

"Why are you doing this?" Erik asked, his saddened indigo eyes boring into the blonde once she was in front of him. "Why would you want to end everything like this?"

"You don't need the answers to anything, Raspberry," she answered flatly. She hated him even more when she heard the way his heart fluttered at the use of that stupid nickname. Why she'd used it, she couldn't be sure, but it was most likely just some leftover nostalgia from seeing the maroon-haired fucknugget. The last time she'd seen Cubellios, he'd been there. That was all it was. "You'll be dead soon, anyway."

He scowled down at her.  _'How did she remember calling me that?'_ Either way… Fuck her and all of her bullshit. "My friends are coming for me," he spat. "They'll stop you while I get my ass out of here."

"Sure," she snorted. "Have fun with that. You can't move."

"Why did you even come up here?" He knew she had somewhere else to be. They were all too cocky to have more than one person keeping guard in the room. Midnight, as he was sure they thought, would be more than enough. Anyone to miraculously make it past the others would be too weakened to put up much of a fight. That's what they thought, but he knew better.

His sister was out there, fighting to save him. Erza was hell in a handbasket on a good day, the only things she loved enough to rend the entire world in twain consisting of strawberry cake, Jellal, and himself. The three were tied, the last he knew. And that day… It was most definitely  _not_  a good day for the Requip mage.

But, if Erza was there, and he knew she was, it was her rage that he could practically feel thundering through the mechanism he was being sucked into. These shitty little cockgoblins were in for a rude wakeup call.

Viper blinked slowly while staring up at the Celestial mage. "You really think you'll escape."

"I  _know_  I will," he hissed. "And when I do, you're gonna be so fucking sorry."

Her head tilted to one side only slightly as he began to struggle. "It's pointless," she said.

"You say that now, but just wait," he sneered. "I'm not giving up to you or anyone else that tries to take me down."

"Because you think the Tower made you stronger?" she whispered, her eye narrowing curiously as he froze. "Y'know… I do have somewhere to be. I hear a redhead is looking for a fight, and I really want to break your spirit before you don't exist anymore."

"You leave Erza alone!" Erik roared. His blood chilled when her eye slid closed and a contented, yet no less demented, smile ticked the corners of her lips. The one time her face changes, and it looked like she was about to cum and on the verge of slaughtering a whole continent in a mindless rage. The first, well that shit was just a sight to behold. It was the other, more prominent, emotion that had him wondering whether his bladder or his asshole was going to give out first.

"God, I haven't heard fear like  _that_  in a good long while, Raspberry," she growled. "You keep this up, you might even start turning me on."

"Don't touch my sister, you-"

"Do it," she purred, sidling up just a little closer. "Call me whatever you want. It won't change what happens to her. What I'll do to her, just for you… God, it'll be so much fun to tell you all about it once she's dead."

"Leave her alone," he whispered. "Please."

"Already up to bargaining, huh? Just depression and acceptance left. You move fast."

"Shut up," he hissed.

"If things weren't going to end like this, I'd think you were hinting at wanting to fuck my crazy little brains out. Tell me…" Her eye flashed with wicked delight. "Is that what you want? To wiggle that little Fairy dick in Crazy Elf Town, maybe make me scream and call you Kili? Spank Tauriel, call me a dirty little dwarf lover?"

"What the hell is  _wrong_  with you?"

"Lots and lots of things," she hissed.

"Viper," Midnight drawled from the bottom of the stairs. "Stop toying with him and get out there."

She glared over her shoulder at their new 'leader' before turning back to Erik. "Here," she whispered. "I'll help you relax." The sheer terror in his soul was echoed back from her in a ring of vibrant, multicolored light, knocking him into near unconsciousness.

The blonde made her way down the stairs, growling under her breath while passing the Reflector mage, "Fucking narcoleptic ladyboy… Unwad your goddamn thong."

"It's a mankini."

"Even worse," she spat over her shoulder.

' _What happened to her?'_  Erik wondered blearily.  _'She looks so dead inside. Still just as beautiful, but… She… wasn't like this before…'_

Her teeth ground together while she wandered through the halls in search of the Requip mage she really needed to make suffer. She hated that she went easy on Erik right at the end there. For some reason, hearing what he was thinking while she walked away… It made her realize it didn't matter. She wanted his ass to be conscious while they turned the world into chaos. She wanted him to realize just how futile his fighting, and the fighting of his guild, was. That they couldn't stop this, no matter what they did.

Besides, she couldn't tell him all the gritty details of how his 'sister' died if he was unconscious. And really, that just wouldn't do at all.

* * *

The blonde Poison Dragon Slayer walked through the familiar town from the train station, her hands shaking while looking down at the pages she held.

_Prisoner 100977 - Viper of the Oracion Seis_

_Status: Released for assisting in Council matters during the Grand Magic Games, X791. Full pardon._

_Notes: Details concerning release, classified._

She didn't have anywhere to go. The others were stuck in prison, and there was no way in hell she was going to try and get them out. They wouldn't have tried to get her released if the tables were turned. Every man for himself, that's what they'd been taught.

Trepidation shook her every step as she walked down the lonely path toward Fairy Tail. Kinana was a part of this guild, she remembered. Meeting the purple-haired woman after getting knocked into the side of a mountain by that stupid fucking hammer of Erza's had been a moment worth remembering. She'd really heard Cubellios' voice. Her soul. It was a dream come true, and then she'd had to leave her only friend behind yet again to keep her out of trouble.

She heard only a small snippet of her friend's soul during the Eclipse incident. Why Doranbolt had only released her to fight a fucking dragon, just for her to get locked back up again, she wasn't sure. Just like how she didn't understand why she'd gone back into custody willingly. Except, she had heard the demons of Tartarus were stirring… Sitting in a cell sounded pretty fucking safe to her, but they'd up and released her.

Viper looked up at the daunting sign above the guild, audibly gulping beneath the hood of her cloak. She knew that she wasn't welcome. They were her enemies twice before, and that kind of pain and hatred wasn't something easily forgotten.

Hell, she still hated her parents for being too weak to keep their own three-year-old daughter safe from the men that had raided their carriage. It was why she'd ended up in the Tower, and Brain… He'd told her exactly where she came from. The whole story. He'd even had the newspaper clippings to prove it. Well, they'd told the papers that she was taken, but she knew the truth. They gave her up, sold her to slavers. There were no two ways about it.

She hated her parents, just like she knew that Fairy Tail hated her. But… Cubellios was her only true family, and if this was the place that Viper could be closer to her only friend, then she would just make the best of it. She had to, because otherwise she was just lost. Alone.

She hated that she was so fucking scared of being alone.

The roaring cheers from within assaulted her ears, and she was ready to turn tail and run far the fuck away from it all when she realized just how many souls were inside. Five of them were without bodies, but the rest… God, it was giving her a headache, and she wasn't even in the damn building.

Moments before she could finally start backing away, having decided that it was better for everyone if she just disappeared, the doors to the guild blew open and a body came hurtling toward her.

A quick blast of her Sound magic sent the man soaring back through what she realized was a full-on brawl that had apparently been put on hold. Heads turned from where he crashed into what had to be the sturdiest bar ever created, toward the open doors. To the cloaked figure whose identity they couldn't determine.

' _Now or never. Sac up and do this shit. You can't run away now.'_  She knew there was no chance in hell that she could leave. Someone would chase her - at least four people had readied themselves to do just that as she stood frozen in the entryway - and then all bets were off.

Viper pushed the hood of her cloak back to drape across her shoulders, her single eye locking onto the aged, two-foot-tall man that was sitting on top of the bar. The only one she couldn't hear. The one she knew was the guild's master from the intel she'd been ordered to get seven years before.

Natsu jumped to his feet off to her right, a menacing growl rumbling in his chest and rippling through the guild's foundation, his fists instantly aflame.

Erza stood, brandishing a hellish sword while her eyes hardened into cold, unforgiving steel.

Still, Viper walked through the sudden hush - although, with the venomous thoughts being directed at her, she was more than glad that she was immune to fucking poison - through the throng of sweaty mages, and stopped before Makarov Dreyar.

' _Four Dragon Slayers in the room,'_  she thought.  _'Exit behind me. Two windows to my left. Hall to the right leads to locker rooms, bathrooms, and another exit. Stairs to a second floor. Saw some windows outside, so they must be up there. Kitchen's behind the bar, so there's probably another exit that way.'_

Two hundred and fifty-eight heartbeats, three belonging to Exceeds, one to a small child.

Muscles tensing, ready for her to breathe wrong.

She would never tell anyone that she wasn't breathing at all.

"Child," Makarov grinned. "How can I help you?"

She heard the crinkling of the papers in her hands as her grip on them tightened. She knew the packet was wobbling just enough for him to notice as she held them in front of his ancient little face. Six heartbeats passed before she spoke, once he looked from the pages before him directly into her eye.

"I'd like to join," she said.

Heart rates spiked all across the guild. The tension was nearly suffocating her, more so than the overwhelming stench of distrust and rage that scorched her overly sensitive sinuses.

"You say no, I'll leave," she continued. "No questions asked, no drama."

Makarov eyed the blonde, then the faces of his other children. The scowls directed toward the woman that was once their enemy, who was showing an extremely surprising amount of courage in coming to Fairy Tail in the first place. It was clear that she knew no one wanted her there, but she had still showed up, and her voice was surprisingly even while making her request. It seemed the only thing that showed how scared or nervous she was, were her shaking hands.

Viper folded the papers and tucked them into the pocket of the jacket beneath her cloak, slowly nodding as his smile faltered. "No problem. Didn't mean to waste your time. I'll-"

Makarov frowned while reaching down for the guild stamp. "Going so soon?" he asked, nearly pouting. "I was just about to ask you where and what color."

"You…" Viper blinked in shock. "Seriously?"

"Yes, child," Makarov chuckled. "I am super cereal."

"Did you just…" Viper could swear she heard his soul whispering  _"Man-Bear-Pig…"_

His grin widened, his deep blue eyes twinkling. "Where and what color?"

She offered her right hand to him. "Fucking insane asylum," she muttered to herself. "Bunch o' batshit motherfuckers in need of some straight jackets, a barrel of Prozac, and fucking Zoloft enemas… What the shit am I getting myself into…"

"What color was that?" he chuckled.

Viper blinked as the stamp was settled on her hand. "Purple."

Kinana walked out of the kitchen with a soft smile on her face, her tray heavy with the drink orders she had to hand out. She paused when she realized just how quiet the guild was, looking up from her notepad filled with the next tray of orders she had to deliver.

Blonde hair. A single, indigo eye. Her hand outstretched before Makarov with the Fairy Tail guild mark appearing on her flesh in a deep purple that matched Kinana's hair.

Flashes of memories scattered through her head, nearly burning in her synapses. Moments with the blonde woman whose voice she'd been hearing in her head for months.

_Wriggling in her dirty clothes, over fresh lash marks from a whip._

_Coiling around her to keep warm in the winter._

_Soaring through the air, hearing her laughter while they both gained a small bit of freedom._

_Her tears in the middle of the night, when no one else could see or hear her, begging the snake to just say something._

_The promise she'd made seven years before, barely able to keep herself upright after a hole had been blown through her shoulder, that they would be together again._

The sudden crash of glass on the floor broke the silence in the guild.

' _Lucy… She's here… Oh god, she's here!'_

The guild as a whole protested their newest addition. As loudly as possible.

The blonde's eye cut over to the left, to see the purple-haired woman she'd been searching for staring intently at her. Jade eyes filled with tears and a trembling smile on her lips. "You…"

Erik groaned while pulling himself up to stand, using the bar to steady himself. "Fuck," he whispered. The last thing he'd expected was for someone to barrel into him as soon as he got his footing, knocking him flat on his ass again. "What the shit?"

"Lucy!" Kinana cried. She didn't care who was around, who was watching, as she launched herself at the blonde Poison Slayer.

Viper grunted as the purple-haired bundle of tears collided with her, taking a step back to keep them both upright. She didn't hear the sudden silence in the guild as everyone stared at them in shock. "Cubellios," she whispered. "I missed you."

The two women slowly sunk to their knees in front of the bar, Viper's nose nestling in Kinana's hair, tenderly nuzzling her long-lost friend. Kinana's shoulders shuddered, her body wracked with sobs.

Erik stared along with the rest of the guild, his eyes wide and slightly horrified.  _'Cubellios… Wait, that was… Oh shit!'_

Viper's eye slowly opened to look at the Celestial mage, and she quietly sniffled and blinked away the tears that dripped from her lashes.

" _That's your secret,"_  Erik silently told her.  _"I heard nothing…"_ He also would never admit to seeing her cry. The evidence was gone as quickly as it had come, so fast he was questioning whether it had happened at all.

Her hand curled around the back of Kinana's head, and she nodded in silence. "I've gotcha, Cu," she whispered. "I'm never letting go again." And she wasn't going to forget what Erik told her. She could hear that he was serious. He was never going to mention to anyone what he'd heard.

"L-Lucy," Kinana sniffled. "I-It's you… It's really…"

"Really, really," she sighed. Her grip on the purple-haired barmaid tightened, just as much as the arms around her did.

Erik carefully stood up again, then slowly made his way over to Viper and Kinana. With a gentle smile, once she looked up at him again, he said, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Viper."

* * *

A month had gone by since Viper first showed up at Fairy Tail, but not a whole lot had changed. She sat at one corner of the bar, a stool that had been all but branded with her name, sitting empty when she wasn't there, and only spoke to two people. Technically, three, but Erik didn't count all that much.

Kinana was her sole source of companionship. No one had a clue as to just why the barmaid was allowed anywhere near the blonde, or why they'd hugged as though they were old friends. She had checked.

It hurt that the woman who had once been Cubellios didn't remember everything about their past, but just knowing that she felt the soul links that were forged between them, that she remembered the most important things about their lives, was enough for Viper. Or, as Kinana (and only Kinana, so fucking help her) called her, Lucy.

Gajeel, the ornery Iron Dragon Slayer that she'd yet to meet before that she'd joined the guild, was more like an annoying gnat that she just couldn't shake. It wasn't even that he talked all that much, and really, she  _could_  stand the constant crunching of metal - simply because he at least chewed with his mouth closed to lessen the unholy shrieks of metal on metal. It was more of the fact that she didn't want companionship outside of Kinana. He, however, was adamant about getting her to open up.

If she hadn't known better, she would have thought he might have been trying to get into her pants. But, between him actually being afraid her vagina had teeth and spat acid fifty yards or more at will, and the fact that he was head over heels for the guild's Requip mage - not that the female knight was aware of it, what with her utter obsession with Jellal… and cake - Viper knew that Gajeel wasn't interested in her as anything more than… Whatever the hell it was. Friendship, maybe. Or just someone to sit near that wouldn't bother him.

And sure, she'd been alright with him being in her general vicinity in the beginning when she realized he wasn't going to try anything, but that had been because he wouldn't talk to her. And then he'd gone and changed it. It had started with a snide comment to Natsu, and Gajeel elbowing her in the side for her agreement to back it up - which, she'd simply nodded concerning his statement that Natsu was  _"as dumb as shoving glass bottles up yer ass and doing a cannonball onto a sledgehammer"_  - and eventually escalated to him greeting her with a low grunt in the mornings.

And then whole sentences started spilling out of him. And she hated it. Well, outwardly, she hated it. She growled and glared and snarled, cursed him out, even threatened him with death by rusting dick piercings, but it had only garnered laughter from the crimson-eyed mage. And really, some of the shit he thought about, while decidedly much darker than what she thought Fairies should be thinking about, was a treasure trove of fucked up-ness that she supported.

She was the guild's resident Patron of the Demented. She rather liked that.

But, for the most part, people left her alone. Erik tried talking to her from time to time, but she could tell it was more of a courtesy and him trying to get the guild to see that she wasn't their enemy anymore. Mira said a few words to her here and there, only when Kinana was busy and she decided to try taking the blonde's order. Makarov seemed to know that she just wanted to be left alone, but she'd caught him giving her encouraging smiles on occasion that she was sure meant he would be willing to talk if she wanted.

"You look awfully lonely."

Viper fought not to roll her eye at the smoother than silk baritone voice that was far too close to her ear. "Fuck off, Laxus."

"C'mon, Blondie," he chuckled. "You'd probably be mildly passable if you at least smiled."

Viper wondered if that line had ever actually worked on a woman. What kind of idiot would swoon over the cocky prick talking shit to her damn face? Really, it was just fucking sad. "And you would be less of a pathetic excuse for a man if you didn't cum just from touching your dick to take a piss in the morning. I pity your walls."

She saw the flash of anger in his stormy eyes, and smirked. Point one for her.

"How about you have your walking blow-up doll over there…" Viper paused and gestured toward Freed still sitting at the Raijinshuu's table. "Give you a nice rub-and-tug with his more than willing virgin asshole? Then you can handle those homosexual urges you're questioning and leave me the fuck  _alone_."

Laxus took a small step back as the final emphasized word had several tendrils of vile smelling poison leaking from her mouth. "Y'know, you wouldn't be such a stuffy bitch that everyone fucking hated if you'd shut your mouth and open your legs."

"Right, but I've got this thing called dignity. Ask your Greenie Mankini what it means. He'll explain it in smaller words for you."

"Then again," Laxus growled, "Who would be stupid enough to try and fuck  _you_?" He started to walk away, mumbling, "Crazy slut would just poison them with her toxic twat anyway."

Her lips thinned and before she knew what she was doing, Viper was standing and the leg of her stool was sliding from her hand, sending the seat on a direct path to Laxus' back. "Fuck you, Minuteman!"

"You're gonna regret that," Laxus growled.

Erik turned his head with a frown when a bolt of lightning scorched the pillar just behind Erza's head. She was lost in her weird cake-land fantasy again, mumbling sweet nothings to the spongy dessert while she slowly consumed it, so he knew she wasn't aware of what had just happened.

What he found, however, was the last thing he'd expected.

Viper was squaring off against Laxus, with only the Lightning Slayer using his magic to attack. She was snarling wildly, but Erik hadn't a clue what the two were fighting over. Or why she was able to land a hit on one of the fastest mages in their guild in the first place.

"Aw, man!" Natsu whined. "Why is he fighting Viper? Laxus never wants to fight me!"

"Because yer annoying, Salamander," Gajeel chuckled from the next table over. "And she pissed Sparky off."

"What happened?" Erik asked, his eyes never leaving the fight. Especially not when Viper cracked another stool over Laxus' head.

"He said she needed a good fuck so she'll chill the hell out," Gajeel shrugged. "Gotta say, he's not wrong…"

"Gajeel," Levy frowned, looking up from her book. "Not everything a woman does is because she needs to have sex."

"Well, she did say a bunch about him," Gajeel shrugged again. "Some pretty nasty shit she was spewing."

"Nastier than her poison?" Natsu chuckled. "Man, think of the poor sucker that would be stuck kissing  _that_."

"Yeah, no thanks," Gajeel laughed. "Pretty sure she'd kill his ass first."

"Maybe that's why she needs to get laid," Natsu hummed thoughtfully. "No one wants to kiss her."

"Not like a guy wants her knowin' he's picturing someone else while they're fuckin'," Gajeel nodded. "That shit's just fuckin' creepy."

Erik shook his head, his hand covering his face. Really, the two had to be aware that Viper could hear them talking about her. He sure as hell was.

It was even more obvious when she stopped her fighting with Laxus to glare at the two Slayers who were otherwise oblivious to her sudden attention.

Laxus grunted as he was pushed away from the blonde with what he now knew was her Sound magic. "Yeah, walk away, Blondie!" he called as she stormed to the entrance. His triumphant smirk faltered when he turned back to the bar to find Kinana, Mira, and his grandfather glaring at him angrily. "What?"

"That was uncalled for, Laxus," Kinana hissed. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Tch, whatever."

Erik stared at the closing guild doors for all of thirty seconds before he was up and moving away from the table. No one else seemed to have noticed that the blonde had left. No one was going after her to make sure she was alright. Kinana, for obvious reasons, was stuck at the guild. Gajeel was still ragging on her with Natsu about her poison, or her magic in general, affecting her ability to be a half-decent lay.

She didn't have anyone else.

No one that she talked to, no one that even gave a shit about whether she was upset.

Sure, she wasn't exactly the nicest person to be around, but he knew that Viper had to be lonely. And that was what propelled him through the doors and out into the street. Only to find her walking briskly along the ledge of the canal with her arms crossed over her chest and her head lowered.

"Fuck off, Raspberry," Viper called to the approaching footsteps behind her. "I don't wanna talk."

"Laxus is a dick, alright?" Erik said as he jogged to catch up with her.

She glared down at him. "I figured that much out already."

"You shouldn't let that shit get to you," he said. "You're probably the first person to turn him down."

She shook her head then, ignoring where her feet were being placed as she looked out across the canal. It wasn't even a matter of the only other Second Generation Slayer hitting on her that had irked her so much.

It was that Bickslow had a bet with him to see who could get into her pants first. Just another conquest. Well, she knew it was mostly joking on Bickslow's part, because he was secretly more familiar with taking a dick in the mouth than all the women in the guild, combined.

But Laxus was serious about it. He'd thought he could throw whatever bullshit out that he wanted, and she'd swoon and fall cunt-first into his lap.

"Hey, Erik!" the fishermen across the canal called, waving from their boat. They avoided looking directly at the blonde by his side.

Erik grinned and waved back. "Catch something good, guys!"

"Must be nice," she mused quietly. "People liking you."

He frowned up at Viper, pausing in his step for a moment while she kept walking before rushing to catch up to her again. "People like you," he said.

"Don't fucking lie to me," she snorted. "Even  _you_  don't believe that."

"It'll take some time for the guild to come around. Just be patient."

Viper shook her head while hopping down from the ledge. "You're wasting your breath, Raspberry," she sighed. "You didn't hear what he was thinking… What they're all thinking…"

Erik's frown deepened when the small hint of sadness in her single lavender eye was gone in an instant, her usual cocky smirk taking root on her lips while she stood in front of the bridge that crossed the canal.

"Besides, do you  _really_  think I give a shit if people like me?"

He watched in silence as she turned and walked away from him, most likely heading to her apartment. Really, no one but Kinana knew what Viper did in her free time. And even then, he wasn't sure just how much the barmaid really knew. Or how often they even spent time together.

' _I like you, Viper,'_  he thought as he watched her fade into the crowd on the other side.  _'I just wish I could tell you…'_  With a heavy sigh, he turned and made his way back toward the guild. Maybe it was time to take a job with Erza again. Get away from the guild for a few days.

A heavy sigh spilled past Viper's lips while she crouched in an alley on the other side of the canal, her arms barred around her waist.  _'I know you do, Raspberry,'_  she thought.  _'But… I'm not good enough for someone like you… I never will be…'_

After several minutes spent in silence, she shook her head and stood, then made her way out of the alley toward the woods. Her already miserable day had been made so much fucking worse, and she really needed to just binge-eat some poison ivy and watch some shitty horror movies for a bit. Maybe when she woke up the next day, things wouldn't hurt so much. She wouldn't feel as lonely.

She wasn't very optimistic about that, though.

* * *

Erik's smile was infectious. Everyone that saw it wanted to, and usually did, smile right along with him. He was enigmatic, with a heart of gold. He really cared about the people he'd come to see as nakama.

Viper knew all of this within the first day of being a Fairy Tail mage, but that day it was so much more apparent. Something big was happening, and the Celestial mage was nearly vibrating in his seat a few stools away from her, he was so fucking excited.

Apparently, he was the only one who knew just what was going to happen. The only problem was that she couldn't pick it out from listening in like she usually did. There was too much going on in his head for her to sort it out without getting a headache.

So, she just decided to let herself be surprised for a change.

Surprises were good things, or so she'd been told.

She heard the doors to the guild opening, and narrowed her eye when the scent of expensive cologne wafted through the air.

' _Is that really him?'_

' _No way!'_

' _Holy shit, that's…'_

She kept her eyes on the glass of bleach in front of her, swirling the little green olives that had been skewered with a toothpick in the chemicals.

"Erik Scarlet," came the deep bass voice off to her side.

"Jude Heartfilia," Erik grinned. He stood and wrapped the man in a warm hug, laughing all the while. "I didn't think you'd be able to make it out here."

"Well, I will not be able to stay for long," the man sighed. "There is some business I must attend to a little further west."

"Building more railroads? That'd sure make our jobs a whole lot easier." The two sat down at the bar, and Erik waved Kinana over to order some drinks.

"Yes, I'm planning on continuing the line out toward the Magic Council, at the very least," Jude said. "We'll create a centralized hub there, with another larger hub here in Magnolia, and a third in Crocus. The town will boom with tourism, but that should also promote sales in your guild's gift shop, as well as here at the bar. You all may even gain some more mages."

"Always moving forward," Erik laughed. "You look into SE vehicles like I mentioned?"

"There's not much to be made from them, I'm afraid," Jude sighed. "They consume too much magic for most to use them for extended periods of time."

"Sure, but you could probably hire some guys to do some research. There's gotta be a better way to channel the magic than what's already available."

"Perhaps," Jude chuckled. "But-"

"There is."

The two paused in their conversation to look at the blonde a few seats away, finding her hair shadowing her face as she glared at the glass before her.

"Pardon me?"

"What do you mean, Viper?" Erik asked curiously.

"I mean just that," she shrugged. "There's a better way than the bullshit we've got now. No mage wants metal prongs digging into their arm and ripping the magic out of them. It hurts, even if it's unconsciously painful, and makes the mage restrict how much they'll put out."

"And what would the solution be?" Jude asked, his eyes calculating as he looked at the woman.

"Get some scientists  _and_ those dickbags down in Magical Research from the Council to work together. Create an engine that can pull in and multiply ethernano from the atmosphere as if it was its own magical container. Change the prongs to a band that absorbs what mages naturally give off, that can be adjusted if necessary. Simple."

"That is hardly a simple undertaking," Jude chuckled good-naturedly.

"Fine, don't believe me," she shrugged, lifting her glass to her lips when Kinana brought Jude's and Erik's drinks over. "Don't blame me when Junelle gets that shit first, because he's already looking into it. He's only got scientists though, not the Council. He doesn't know about Vera Mikku, or how she's already trying to develop an artificial magical container. Then again… he's beaten you to the punch six times in the last twelve years, so he might get them first."

Jude's eyes widened as she tipped her glass back, guzzling down the clear liquid that reeked of toxic chemicals. He was ready to ask just how she would know any of the information she'd just spouted.  _'Vera Mikku. Who is that?'_ The glass was slammed to the counter, and he dropped his own drink when she turned to glare at him.

She was everything his Layla had been years before, except for the missing eye and her other being a shade of purple that it hadn't been when she was born. The same nose, the same lips, the same heart-shaped face.

"Don't mistake this," Viper sneered. "This isn't a happy family reunion."

Erik frowned and placed a hand on Jude's arm as he stood to move closer to the blonde, shooting her a glare when he felt the man trembling.

"L-Lucy?" Jude whispered. "You… You're alive…"

"Jude?" Erik whispered. "You know Viper?"

The Heartfilia tycoon stepped closer, a helpless smile on his lips and tears welling in his eyes. "M-My little girl is alive…"

"What the hell?" Erik gasped, turning back to the blonde Slayer. "Are you serious?"

"Come any closer, and I won't hesitate to poison you, old man," she hissed.

He drew back when Erik pulled his arm, thick blond brows furrowed. "What happened to you?" Jude asked breathlessly. "Where have you been?"

"Shouldn't matter to you," she spat. Why she'd even made her presence known to the man - if he could be called that - she wasn't sure.

"Wait a damn second," Erik said, his eyes wide and nearly toppling from his skull. " _You're_ … Jude's daughter…?"

"Biologically," Viper hissed. "Nothing more."

"And… Jude, you thought she was dead?"

"I-I did," the man whispered shakily. "Y-You look just like Layla..."

"Raspberry, he's gonna…" She stopped herself, a wicked grin curling her lips while looking up into Jude's eyes. "Nevermind.  _I'll_  help him." A low, demented laugh spilled from the blonde as her lips parted, poison leaking out and seeking the man who'd once been her father as she blew him a kiss.

Erik cursed and caught Jude when he collapsed, holding his breath and dragging the man away from the noxious crimson and black cloud that Viper was in the process of sucking back into herself. "Wendy! Jude's been poisoned!"

The little Sky Slayer was there in a flash, and Erik rounded on the blonde after laying Jude down on the floor, his fists clenching and quivering in his anger.

"Aw, poor Daddy," Viper scoffed.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Erik bellowed.

"Me?" she asked, feigning innocence. "Why, nothing at all." The mask broke a moment later while she grinned maniacally down at her father. "Now that I've gotten back at him. Too bad the bitch is dead already. I would've loved ripping them apart…"

"You don't know anything about Layla," Erik sneered. Viper's eyes cut down to the keys he was clutching. "She was-"

"The reason for a good deal of pain in the world," Viper shrugged. "A failure at everything in life." She stood and stepped closer to the shaking Celestial mage. "Go ahead and hate me," she whispered. "You're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last, to do it. I'm heading home. If you want to keep the illusions you have of those bastards intact,  _don't_  follow me."

Erik glared at her retreating back until the doors closed behind her, then turned and looked down at Wendy as she drew the poison from Jude's body. "How is he?"

The blunette frowned up at him. "There was hardly anything deadly," she whispered. "It was mostly chloroform…"

"This is bullshit!" Erik roared. He was getting to the bottom of this, one way or the other. Viper couldn't say the things she had, make them believe that Jude was going to die, then walk the hell off like it wasn't a huge fucking deal. Not without some serious explaining.

"Erik, wait!" Erza called as her brother ran out of the guild. She frowned when Gajeel's gloved hand grasped her elbow.

"Let him go," he whispered. "Might be the push he needs to get over her crotchety ass."

With his blood boiling, Erik Scarlet ran through Magnolia to the place Viper called home. He only knew where it was because he'd seen her walking out of the apartment building and heading to the guild one morning when he'd come back from a mission. Far on the outskirts of town, as far away from people as she could get, in a little rundown apartment complex that looked like it was on the verge of being condemned.

He stormed inside, jumping over the first three steps that had rotted out to vault himself up the stairs. They creaked and groaned under his weight, a few nearly giving up on existence altogether when his boots thundered over them. Erik didn't care about being stealthy. She already knew he was coming.

He wasn't sure how he knew that she lived on the third floor, but once he'd reached it, the Celestial mage stormed over to the open doorway to find the blonde sitting on her couch and watching the lacrimavision.

"Don't you dare slam my door," she said. "Close it like a civilized person, then sit the fuck down."

He slammed it anyway. Then stood in front of her, blocking her vision of the show she was watching. With his arms crossed over his angrily heaving chest, Erik scowled down at her. "Tell me what your fucking problem is," he spat. "Why would you do that?"

"Knock him out?" She let out a humorless laugh. "Because if he didn't calm down, he would've had a heart attack."

"That's hardly showing him mercy!"

"True, I was more concerned with the guild's prime benefactor not kicking the bucket. He lives, the money stays solid. He dies, the guild could easily tank."

"Fairy Tail isn't that fucking desperate for money, and even if we were... He's a friend of the guild! Don't you have any sense of honor? Loyalty?"

"Sure, I do," she nodded. "I'm loyal to the ones that deserve it. There's only one person that's earned it from me. The rest of you can go fuck yourselves."

"And how do you expect to have more people gain that level of trust from you if you just snap at them at every opportunity?"

"Because no one else  _wants_  that from me," she sneered. Slowly, she leaned to the side, peering around him to switch off the show. "Now, sit the fuck down and listen."

"Why should I? You're just a fucking liar," he whispered. "You're hateful and cruel."

"I am. But you came to  _me_. Not the other way around."

It was then that he noticed the thin scrapbook on the coffee table in front of her. The fact that she even had a coffee table was surprising. Just as the fact that her apartment, for all the flaws of the building itself, was fucking gorgeous. Sure, it was a simple studio apartment, and there wasn't even a door that led to the bathroom, but a beaded curtain. Still, the place had a homey feel to it.

Pale cream-colored walls were accented with deep mahogany mouldings. Beautifully framed art of forest landscapes and exotic snakes hung here and there on the walls. A single shelf held a picture of the blonde and Kinana out in a field.

It took only a second for him to see that her small kitchenette was spotless with shining black marble countertops and chrome appliances. That her bed was covered in a mossy green duvet that had splashes of browns and golds in the embroidery.

Slowly, Erik took a seat next to her, looking from his surroundings back to the glaring, blonde bundle of hatred.

"If you say 'nice place,' I'm castrating you."

"... Wow."

Viper leaned forward and flipped the scrapbook open, thumbing through the worn, yellowed pages that she'd glued together herself. She finally paused on a page that only had an envelope taped to it, and pulled the paper from inside it.

"What-"

"Shut up," she hissed, levelling him with a hard glare. "Yes, I knocked him out with chloroform and some of my poison got mixed in. That's inevitable. I could just as easily have killed that sorry excuse for a father, and had my happy ass sent back to prison."

"So that's why-"

"I said  _shut up_ ," she snapped. "Draw your own conclusions  _silently_ , you ignorant fuck!"

"Wow." He should have expected her to slap him for speaking. He hadn't. And damnit, that shit hurt.

"You know nothing about me, asshole," Viper hissed. "Not my past or the shit I've been through that led to today. So, I'm gonna give you a fucking lesson."

"The last time I got a lesson from you, you were trying to end the damn world," he grumbled. She smacked him again, with the scrapbook that time.

"Once upon a fucking time," she sneered. "Jude and Layla Heartfilia had a baby. Little blonde girl with bright brown eyes. The world was rainbows and skittle-shitting unicorns until she was three. The papers say the girl was abducted during a raid while the happy-go-lucky family was on a carriage. What they don't say is the truth."

Erik frowned when the page in her hand was thrown in his face. He carefully lifted it, his eyes narrowing in confusion when he saw it was an article from a newspaper.

"Daddy Jude and Mama Layla weren't fit parents," she continued, bitterness seeping from her pores. "They didn't want to deal with unicorns or any of the other bullshit that came with the little blonde package they'd made. Not when they realized that she didn't get Layla's magic, or Jude's lack of it. She could hear their fucking souls, and it scared them. So they sold her. Made a quick buck off the kid while the pickings were good and didn't bat an eye over the fact that she was a slave."

"S-Slave?" he whispered, looking back up into her single indigo eye.

"Sold and sold again, shipped to a fucking island. Lemme tell ya, I'm  _great_  at construction now." The sudden trickle of fear down his ramrod straight spine did nothing to her. She wanted to smile over it, but she couldn't. "I spent a few years in the Tower before Brain bought me. The rest is history. He told me the fucking truth, showed me the paper in your hand."

"But…"

"The moral of this story,  _kiddo_ ," she sneered. "Everyone else is only there to stab you in the back and let you down when you can't defend yourself. There's no one in the world that you can trust, because once you let your guard down… That's it. You're done for."

"Explain Kinana, then," he whispered.

"We bonded when she didn't have the ability to lie to me. When I couldn't even hear her. We helped each other survive. And now… She's so happy to have me back that she'll never turn on me."

"And what about you… Aren't you glad she's back?"

"She never left. I did." Viper turned to look down at the scrapbook cover that was made from paper mache she'd scrounged together, then painted with moistened charcoal. "Sometimes, you should just take what you see on the cover," she whispered. "You start digging, and that's when people get hurt."

"I don't understand…"

"You're not supposed to, Raspberry. Get out."

"Wait."

"I swear on Zeref's unholy motherfucking existence," she growled. "If you don't get out of my apartment, I will dismember you and eat your fucking body. I don't want you here. And you tell that shitty meatsack that I'm not his goddamn daughter."

"But-"

"Lucy Heartfilia died when she was locked in the Tower. I didn't have a name when I came out, and I've been Viper ever since Brain named me. That's what I am now."

"Don't you mean 'who'?"

"Do I?" She let him stew for only a moment, then stood and opened the door to her apartment. He followed her, his face and soul both as confused as she wanted him to be, and once he was outside, Viper silently closed the door and locked it.

She didn't care that he hadn't moved an inch, or that she could hear him trying to work things out in his head. Erik wasn't important. She didn't want him to be.

But, as she slid down her door with head in her hands, with shallow, shaky breaths slipping past her lips before she bit them, she realized he was important. She hated him for it, and she hated even more the tears that spilled down her cheek at the thought of him knowing even a little more about her.

He stood in the hallway for far too long, staring down at the newspaper clipping in his hand.

_Heartfilia Heiress, Lucy Heartfilia, Abducted_

The picture of a three-year-old blonde girl with the brightest smile he'd ever seen, clinging to her mother and father's hands as they posed for the portrait, made his heart clench painfully. He knew what Viper had told him was a lie. It didn't mesh with the man he knew Jude to be, or the woman that he'd known Layla to have been. They were kind, fair, and good people. They'd made him want to be the kind of man he'd become.

If any good could come out of this experience, it would lie with Jude. The man deserved to know what had happened to his daughter, and why the woman now known as Viper couldn't bear to be around him. Erik knew it would hurt Jude to find out the lies that Viper had been fed her whole life, but it would be more painful for him to think she knew he loved her and still hated him. At least, if he showed the clipping to Jude, that she at least held onto it even though she thought it was a lie, he would have a little piece of mind.

Slowly, and much more cautiously than when he'd arrived, Erik made his way down the stairs. Once he was safely outside, he turned and looked back up at the building, to the window that he knew led to her apartment, boarded up to keep the sunlight and burglars at bay. Splintered shutters creaked as they swung in the soft breeze blowing by. It looked dead, as though the life had been sucked right out of it.

It suited her, he realized. The building showcased just what Viper was inside. Broken and on the brink of collapse. Abandoned. Unloved. Neglected. She'd found a home in a place where most others shied away, because that was where she felt she belonged. He knew it wasn't a matter of her not having the money for something better. She could have stayed at Fairy Hills if she'd needed somewhere to go.

But she hadn't chosen that route. Viper chose to close herself off from everyone around her, and now, with the newspaper clipping in his hand and the words she'd whispered to him rattling around in his head, he felt like he was starting to understand her a little better.

* * *

Jude Heartfilia was gone from the guild by the time Viper returned two days later. Erik refused to speak to her, and that was something that she was fine with.

Three months flew past, and Erik hadn't said a single word to her. He hadn't looked in her direction, and when they were in the guild at the same time, he was there just long enough to grab a mission and leave. She didn't want to dwell on the odd empty feeling she had from what he was doing. She couldn't.

Granted, she was spending less time at the guild as it was. She didn't want to be around anyone, and knowing that Erik had taken the only copy she'd had of that article concerning her parents had broken something inside of her. Viper hadn't realized there was anything left to break, but she'd been wrong.

As it was, another two months passed and she was finally finding a reason to return to the guild. Mainly because the heating in her apartment didn't work, and she was far more prone to getting cold than she would have liked. She'd missed the huge Thanksgiving feast they hosted at the guild. There wasn't anything for her to be thankful for, and no one wanted her there anyway, so Viper chose to stay home and - although she would never admit it - cry into her bowl of soup while watching a slasher film… Or six...

But, as December had reared its ugly, far too fucking cold head, there she was. Sitting alone at the bar.

Gajeel was sitting next to Erza, his arm slung over her shoulders and his fingers lightly caressing her arm. Viper had missed quite a bit, considering she hadn't known that Erza got over her obsession with Jellal. The Iron Slayer looked happy though, so that was good, she supposed.

Erik was nowhere to be seen. No one was thinking about him, and from what she could tell, there wasn't anything amiss in how he'd been acting.

She hated that she was trying to find out if he was okay.

She could hear Kinana and Mira in the kitchen though, and the fact that the two barmaids were sharing several tender kisses while working together had the blonde Slayer smiling secretly into her glass of whiskey and Windex. Kinana had been by only days before, worried out of her mind over her blossoming feelings for the demon barmaid, and Viper… Well, she'd felt obligated to put her friend's mind at ease by saying that she needed to just talk with the woman.

The worst that would happen, she'd told Kinana, was that she would be back at Viper's apartment, cuddling on the couch with her instead.

She was never happier to spend the night by herself watching movies than that one in particular. Her friend deserved some happiness, and if Mira was where she could find it, then Viper was going to be supportive of it.

The doors to the guild banged open, and the Poison Slayer had to carefully set down her glass when she heard his laughter. Erik came into the guild with Natsu by his side, joking about something or other that had happened on their most recent job.

" _Damn, Viper's here. I'll order my food in a bit,"_  she heard Natsu grumble. She couldn't explain it, but the fact that the Fire Slayer refused to even come to the bar due to her presence fucking stung. And it had her taking the half-empty glass she'd just set down and carrying it over to a table tucked in a darkened corner. It was a little quieter, so that was a plus, but the sudden swarm of guild members that flocked to the bar once she was gone had her wishing she'd just stayed home.

" _Not cool, Natsu,"_ she heard Erik's scowl through his voice.  _"She's not that bad."_

" _She poisoned Jude, man. That's not cool."_

" _She's still a fucking person."_

" _Barely,"_  Natsu grumbled.

She was sure, right then, that it had been a mistake to join Fairy Tail all those months ago. Erik had told her, Kinana had told her… hell, Gajeel had even told her to loosen the hell up and try being nicer to people. She hadn't wanted to though.

Viper hadn't been able to find it in herself to trust any of the members of Fairy Tail, and she couldn't find a reason for them to trust her either. For months, she'd done nothing but spit in all their faces, tearing anyone down that came remotely close to being civilized toward her.

In fact, she deserved to be hated. Before joining, she would have relished how much they hated her. How much she was feared. But, as she looked out across the guild and saw all of the happy, smiling faces of these people, mages she'd mocked that had something she'd never once gotten to experience, Viper hated that she couldn't be more like them.

Erik paused in his step while making his way over to the table Erza and Gajeel had commandeered, his gaze instantly honing in on the blonde that had been plaguing him for months. Really, the comments that were made about her had gotten old a week after she'd joined.

Sure, Viper wasn't the most sociable person, but she talked to people when it suited her. It was just very rare.

Yes, she was pretty fucking venomous, with her magic and with her words. But it just showed her intelligence. He was pretty sure she'd never repeated an insult.

No, she hadn't opened up to anyone, but not everyone had to be the life of the party.

Okay, so she didn't trust people, and no one trusted her, but he was sure that she'd be more willing to  _try_  if people gave her an opening. As it was, there might as well have been a whole continent between her and the rest of the guild.

The worst part, in his opinion, was that there was a whole lot more that Erik knew he wasn't hearing. That only Viper got to hear, because she was forced to listen in on people's souls. It was no wonder the blonde acted the way she did sometimes. He was sure he'd be much the same way if he'd had to deal with that part of her magic.

He started walking toward her table instead of his original destination, watching her blank expression for any small change. By the time he was sitting down across from her, he half-believed she was practicing to be one of those weird living statue attractions.

Erik had watched her single eye staring down into the amber liquid that filled her glass the whole way over. She didn't even seem to notice that he'd appeared at her table, but he was sure she was just coming up with new ways to insult him for even thinking that she would want someone to talk to.

"Viper," Erik whispered, leaning forward with his elbows on the tabletop. "You doin' okay? Looks like something's bothering you…"

She knew that was the understatement of a lifetime. She was far from okay right then. How someone like  _him_  had picked up on it, she hadn't a clue. "I'm fine, Raspberry," she said, sparing him a quick glance.

"You're never giving that up, are you?" he chuckled.

"Not. Fucking. Ever." She lifted her glass to Kinana to signal another round, a tiny smile quirking up one corner of her lips. "You're always gonna be that little shitstain Raspberry to me."

"I feel like I should be offended. Should I be offended?"

"You tell me, kiddo."

"Y'know," he frowned. "We'd be about the same age if I hadn't-"

"Maybe," she nodded. "But that doesn't really matter." When Kinana brought over her fresh drink, Viper downed the one that she had and placed the empty glass on the tray. "Thanks, Cu."

"Sure thing, Lucy," Kinana smiled. "Here, Erik. Mira had me bring your drink over here."

"Awesome, Kinana," he grinned. "Thanks."

The pair fell into an awkward silence once the barmaid left, and Viper found herself chancing a small glance at the Celestial mage across from her when she knew he wasn't looking.

He was still handsome, just the way she remembered him being when they'd first met. His slanted, amethyst bedroom eyes were still so vibrant. So alluring. She'd noticed over the months that he definitely looked stronger. It was hard not to when his clothes got a little roughed up and bared his chest in the guild brawls. Or when she caught him coming back inside from the training grounds, wearing a nearly transparent tank top that was soaked through with sweat.

Still, no matter what she thought about Erik, there was nothing that she could do about her silent desire for him. He was untouchable, especially for her.

He would never want to be with her anyway, regardless of the amount of times she'd caught him thinking about her in the guild. It was usually just him wondering about who she really was. Most often though, he was trying to picture what it would look like when she genuinely smiled. When she wasn't in pain or being an asshole or anything else, but when she was simply happy.

She didn't even know what that looked like anymore.

' _Just do it already. Ask her. The worst she can do is say no, then you can go back to not thinking about her all the time.'_

Viper's jaw tensed as she stared intently at her glass.

"So," Erik said hesitantly. "I've got a question for you."

"No."

"... Huh?"

"You heard me," she growled. "I said no. You don't have to ask. I hear you. So take your fucked up fantasies of me dressing up as some creepy elf and fucking me into the next century, and go die in a goddamn fire."

"Wh-What? I never said…" He flinched when her gaze lifted, showing him nothing more than pure hatred in the glare of her single eye.

"You don't have to. I  _hear_  you."

"Just because I'm thinking-"

"You were two seconds away from making an ass out of yourself. I saved your fucking pride. Now, go grab your Jergens and leave me the fuck alone, Raspberry."

Erik finished his drink and scowled as he stood up. "You're a real bitch sometimes, y'know that?" he muttered.  _'Saved my pride, my ass…'_  He was sure it hurt a whole lot more that he hadn't even had a chance to ask her out to dinner. Erza, while she didn't like Viper in the slightest, had been urging him to just get it over with. She'd said, with the way that Viper actually let him even talk to her, there was a chance it would work out.

"I know," the blonde crooned, a shark-like grin spreading across her face. "It's wonderful to be me." Her grin stayed in place as he stormed off and left the guild, slowly settling into a smug grin.

' _I should've known it was a stupid idea. Goddamnit, Erik… Way to go…'_

Once he was outside, she sighed and took a slow sip of her drink. For all the shit she'd been giving herself over how she'd acted lately, it had been so easy to go right back to it when she should have done something different for a change. She knew what he'd wanted to ask her, and she would never admit out loud that seeing how hurt he was by her words made her gut clench, but it was for the best.

It was better for both of them if he didn't try anything like that again. Nothing good would come from it. She couldn't let the guild's nicest guy try to win her over, to put himself out there over and over just to get shut down because  _she_  was so far beyond help that it wasn't even funny. And Viper didn't want to be anyone's charity case.

Deep down, she knew he didn't see her that way. She just needed to convince herself that breaking the guy's heart was the right thing to do.

Kinana frowned while walking over to the table from behind the bar, the guild doors slamming shut in the background. "That was a bit harsh, don't you think?" she whispered while looking down at the blonde.

"He needed to hear it, Cu," Viper sighed, shaking her head.

Kinana's frown only deepened. She knew that anyone else wouldn't hear the loneliness in the Poison Slayer's voice, but they'd been together long enough, and she remembered enough, to pick up the slight tremor that signalled one of the few times she cried.

Viper lifted her glass again, blinking at the pale, slender fingers that rested over the edge of her drink.

"Why do you push everyone away?" Kinana asked.

"You know why…"

With a sad smile, the purple-haired barmaid took a seat. "They're not all like that, Lucy. I think it'd be good for you… Letting someone in. Erik's a good guy."

Viper scoffed and finished her drink. "Since when do good guys want psychopaths?"

"You're a lot of things, but crazy isn't one of them."

She could hear the silent anger from the rest of the guild. They all knew she'd done something to upset Erik, and damnit she didn't want to hear any of that right then. It only made her feel so much worse about it all.

"No, but… I don't have a shot anyway."

"And why is that?"

The chair Erik vacated scraped along the floor before Gajeel plopped himself down in it. "Probably because Bunny Girl over here thinks he hasn't forgiven her for the shit she did before," he chuckled. "Plus, how much she tries to make him hate her. It's almost cute, Bunny…"

"Fuck you, Metalmouth. I told you to stop calling me that," she growled. "And stop picturing me in that fucking outfit. It's never happening!"

With his fist raised and a middle finger extended, Gajeel grinned at the blonde. "Stay outta my head then." The nickname had come about as a joke one morning when they were two of the only people in the guild. One of the few times he'd had an actual conversation with the blonde and found out that her favorite food was, oddly enough, rabbits. Considering her namesake ate rodents, including rabbits, he'd had quite the laugh over calling her 'Bunny Girl'. It was only escalated by him picturing her dressed up as a sexy bunny (very similar to the outfit Erza wore for him when they were alone) and being forced to dance while he performed at the guild - all in good fun, of course.

Kinana turned back to her. "You really think that?"

"I never said that…" Viper muttered. "Besides, I  _know_  he forgave me. That's a non-issue."

"Well," Kinana sighed, standing up and getting ready to head back to the bar, "I think you're making a mistake. Erik's really into you."

"My body, maybe," she grumbled.

Gajeel waited until Kinana was out of earshot, then leaned forward to give Viper a long, hard stare. "If it ain't that, then what? Because you have no fuckin' clue how hard it is to keep Titania on a goddamn leash where her brother's concerned."

"What are you doing here?"

"Told her I'd talk to you. See what the fuck you were thinking." When Viper looked into his eyes, the last thing he'd been expecting was to see her looking so damn vulnerable for a change. It wasn't even a quick flash of emotion, but sitting plainly on her face. "Bunny…"

"I don't want to talk about this shit with you," she whispered.

"Well, seeing as I'm the only one here that'll give yer ass the time of day, get to spillin'."

She hadn't anticipated the Iron Slayer shifting so that she was very obviously - to her - hidden from the view of the guild. Or for the level of emotion shining in his suddenly worried crimson eyes. Here he was, giving her a chance to open up, and the privacy to appear however she wanted. She just didn't know what the hell to do about that.

' _Something's eatin' her up inside. I can smell it. She's feelin' guilty about what she just did, I bet. Makes sense, since Erik's too fuckin' nice for his own good most of the time, but damn… She's gonna cry. Fuck, don't cry… I don't deal with that shit well! NO!'_

How Gajeel had gone from looking worried to downright terrified was beyond her, but Viper couldn't find it in herself to stop the pathetic little laugh that rocketed from her throat. "I'm not gonna cry…"

"Holy shit, you know how to laugh?!"

"Fuck you!" Still, she was laughing about it all. The sheer terror had already disappeared, and now the intimidating Iron Slayer was staring at her in wonder. "I'm fully capable of laughing."

"When you're maiming shit, sure," he nodded. "Not like this…"

"Well, I am," she frowned.

"Maybe if people saw that a little more…"

"I don't usually have a reason to," she shrugged, leaning back in her chair and still smirking. The sudden image of how Erik had looked just before he'd left, the pain flashing across his face, forced her slightly raised spirits to fall flat. And once again, she was left feeling like an asshole.

"You need to be alone," Gajeel nodded, seeing the sudden shift in her demeanor. "I'll leave you to that, then."

As he stood and started walking back toward his own table, she looked up at his retreating figure. "Gajeel," she whispered. His head tilted slightly in her direction, and she knew he was listening. "Thanks…"

" _No problem. Just don't you dare start crying…"_  he silently told her.  _"You wanna talk or some shit… Whatever… We're cool."_

She shook her head while looking at the empty glass in front of her. Maybe being in the guild wasn't the best place for her right then. She needed to think, that was for sure, and Fairy Tail was stifling, at best. With that thought in mind, she made her way to the bar and paid her tab, then added a little extra and whispered to Mira, "For Raspberry's drink. He stormed out without paying… That's my fault, so…"

Mira blinked in surprise, offering the Poison Slayer a small smile. "That's really sweet of you, Viper."

"Whatever…" The blonde turned and made her way out of the guild, wrapping her coat around herself just a little more tightly when she felt the biting chill in the air.

She stared at the ground, letting her feet carry her wherever they may while she thought back over the last few months in the guild. Every time she'd interacted with Erik in general. Back to when they'd first met.

He'd always been different. She'd seen it right away. He'd been an enemy of hers twice, but both times, he'd been trying to figure her out. It was like he was incapable of seeing only the bad in someone. He was too optimistic, and sure, she'd exploited that and tried to crush his spirit by going after Erza, but still… Even when she'd joined the guild, he didn't hate her. Hell, Erik had been the first one to really welcome her to the guild.

Erik was the only one outside of Kinana that had accepted her into the Fairy Tail family right away.

Her feet finally stopped, and Viper lifted her head to find herself in front of a navy door with a gold-plated 2B sitting under the peephole, her knuckles already rapping at the door.

' _Goddamnit, who's here? I don't wanna see anyone right now…'_

The door opened a moment later, and she watched the scowl on Erik's face melt into shock.

He blinked several times, trying to figure out whether he was imagining things, and still, she was there. Leaning against the wall opposite his apartment with her arms crossed over her chest. "V-Viper?"

"Were you seriously fucking crying?" she asked, seeing the familiar shine in his eyes.

His surprise died down and gave way to a deep scowl. His hand gripped the door, ready to slam the stupid thing, as he said, "Fuck you, alright? You don't need to rub shit in."

Viper pushed off the wall, her hands falling to her sides while she stalked over to him. He froze, and a small, teasing smirk pulled at her lips. "I wasn't trying to," she admitted. "Just asking a question."

"You already know that answer, then."

"I do," she nodded. "You gonna invite me in?"

Did he want to invite her in? Yes, and no. He had manners, and he knew it would be rude to keep her out in the hallway, but he didn't think he could handle the blonde being too close to him for too long. Still, as he looked into her nearly glowing indigo eye, he couldn't tell her no.

With a roll of his eyes, Erik opened the door further and stepped back to let her in. "Want something to drink?" he asked while closing the door behind them.

She shook her head, quickly taking in the apartment with sky blue walls, filled with pictures of himself and their guild mates. Shelves full of knick knacks. A writing desk on the far wall with a stack of papers on the corner. Dark grey couch and brushed steel furniture. A total bachelor pad, but it suited him.

"I just came to talk to you," she said slowly, following his lead toward the couch and taking a seat.

Erik nodded, leaning back as he watched her scowling at the ground. He already knew it would be pointless to try and get Viper to spill anything before she was ready, but as seconds turned into minutes, he started wondering if she even really knew why she was there.

"Can you tell me something?" Viper asked.

"Want me to actually answer, or are you just going to pull it out of my head?"

"I want you to tell me the fucking truth," she whispered, frowning.

He let out a heavy, weary sigh. "What is it?"

"Why?"

"Why, what?" he asked, frowning as she looked up at him. In the time since she'd joined the guild, he'd never seen her look like this. Almost as though she was uncomfortable.

"Why me? After everything I've done to you, why the hell would you be stupid enough to want…  _that…_ "

"Maybe I'm crazy," he muttered. Really, the fact that Viper was asking him about his interest in her was surprising as hell. He'd never thought, especially after what had happened at the guild, that she would want to know anything about it.

And, of course, he'd tried to sort out just what it was about the blonde Slayer that had him so enamored, but he just couldn't figure it out. There wasn't just one thing that stood out as a determining factor in why he wanted to be with her. With all her faults, and he knew there were plenty, he couldn't help but see the good in her that she always tried to hide.

She did a damn good job of hiding it, but he was probably the only one looking closely enough to see it. "There's just something about you, I guess…"

Viper nodded, keeping her gaze locked with his. "Okay. I'll see you around."

"Wait," Erik blinked. "That's it?"

Viper paused in getting up, staring at him blankly for several painfully long moments. "Was there supposed to be more?"

"I-I don't know. I mean, you came here, acting like you wanted a serious talk, and that… That was hardly anything." Exasperation and confusion really didn't even nick the tip of the iceberg.  _'Honestly, I was ready for her to try ripping my throat out.'_

"Nope, that was it." Viper finally looked away, standing and taking a step toward the door. When she felt his fingers gently wrapping around hers, she froze.

Erik slowly stood, his eyes intense and searching as she looked at him over her shoulder. "Tell me something?"

She looked down to where his caramel skin clashed with her pale flesh, nearly shivering as his thumb brushed over her guild mark. "What?"

"What happened to make you like this?" he whispered. "When you talked to me… When I was in the clock… Why did you look so…"

"Dead inside?" she whispered back, recalling the words he'd thought that day with terrifying clarity. Viper felt, more than saw, him nod.

"I get it if you don't wanna tell me," Erik sighed. "I just-"

"I lost Cubellios," she whispered. "We broke out, and I spent years searching for her… I gave up on ever finding her…"

His brow furrowed in thought. "And that's why you sacrificed your eye?"

"I was weak," Viper spat, pulling her hand from his. "I had to be stronger to find her. And it still wasn't enough." Why she was telling him, she didn't know. It was something about the warmth he radiated, she was sure.

She gasped as his calloused fingers hooked under her chin, gently lifting her head so he could look into her eye again.

"I never thought you were weak," he smiled.

" _You_  beat my ass back then," she scoffed, rolling her eye. "I was weak."

"You still stood back up," he countered. "You kept fighting."

Viper's eye widened when she felt his thumb lightly brushing over the bottom of her scar, back and forth across her cheek. The tenderness in his gaze threw her for a loop.  _No one_  looked at her like that. She didn't deserve that level of affection being directed at her.

The problem was, she'd noticed how his tongue barely darted over his full, parted lips. She heard just what he was going to do, and that he was taking his time  _because_  he knew she could hear him. He wanted to give her an out, a chance to punch him right in the fucking testicles and poison him for even thinking of it.  _'Erik, what are you doing?'_

She couldn't move though. Even as his head dipped and he took a small step closer to her. She could feel his breath on her lips as he paused. The warmth of his body in all the places he wasn't even actually touching her.  _'Dumbass! Push him away!'_

"You were so beautiful that day," he whispered, looking deeply into her widened eye, a breath away from her as he pictured the day they'd first met. Her red corset, black leather pants, combat boots, her hair braided in pigtails. Her eyes that were just like his. Her full lips and pointed teeth.

"I saw you," he breathed, his hand slowly moving to sift his fingers through her hair at the nape of her neck. "You weren't a monster when you were with her…"

_She wrapped an arm around the large snake's head, her injured arm hanging, useless, at her side. Cubellios let out a soft hiss, its tongue tickling the blonde's dirty cheek. Viper sniffled, a watery laugh escaping her, then tenderly kissed her friend's snout._

Viper's lips trembled at the memory playing in his head.  _'What the hell is he doing? Wh-What…'_

"You were…"

_*.*_

_Viper sat at the bar with her chin in her hand, looking for all the world as though nothing could touch her. Kinana paused in front of her, giving the blonde a bright smile while settling a bottle of bleach on the bar. Viper's eye lit up, widening only slightly, and she smirked at the purple-haired barmaid._

_*.*_

"No," he chuckled, "You still are…"

Viper felt her entire soul stilling as more and more of his memories played out for her to hear. Memories she'd never known he had, simply because she had been so desperate to try and keep herself out of his head.

_*.*_

_Erik walked along a thin trail in the woods, taking in the calm midday atmosphere. He paused as he heard laughter off to his right, then slowly crept through the trees to find Viper and Kinana sitting on a blanket under a tree across the bright clearing. He couldn't see their faces with how far away they were, but he found himself grinning when Viper's head shot forward and what was very obviously her drink shot out of her nose._

" _Cu, you ass!" Viper coughed, still somehow laughing. "Bleach burns when it comes out of your nose!"_

_Kinana laughed loudly. "Wait 'til you see my impression of Gajeel!"_

" _Oh fuck… No!"_

_Erik bit his lips when the blonde collapsed onto her side, hysterical, bright peals of laughter spilling from her._

" _Shoo-be-doo-ba!"_

" _I'm g-gonna… die… Oh god… C-Cu, stop!"_

_*.*_

"... So beautiful."

She gasped as he finally closed the last bit of distance between them. The scent of raspberries and almond filled her lungs, his scent, one she'd always tried to ignore because of how much it called to her.  _'Stop this. Stop him, you idiot… You can't do this to him…'_  She wanted more than anything to sink further into him as his other hand came up to gently rest on her waist. To let him devour her, body, mind, and soul.

' _Fuck, her lips are just like I'd imagined… So perfect…'_

She drew back in surprise, her cheeks flaming brilliantly as her trembling fingers pressed to cool her lips.

The pink dusting her cheeks was a sight to behold, and Erik found himself grinning while looking down into her widened violet eye.

Viper well and truly couldn't find her breath as she looked at him. Especially not when she saw the small dimples in his cheeks from how widely he was smiling.  _'Did someone turn on the heater?'_ She was sure much longer would have her melting into a puddle right then and there.

"Did I break you?" Erik teased. Really, the fact that she hadn't castrated him by that point was being considered a total fucking win for him. Even if she did it now, at least he would have gotten one kiss out of her. He'd die a happy man for that.

"I-I…" Viper slowly shook her head, blinking in confusion at the happiness she found in his gaze, how his soul fluttered and sighed like a lovestruck schoolgirl.

"You act like you've never been kissed," he chuckled.

The blush that had slowly been diminishing roared back to life, spreading to the tips of her pointed ears. With a step back, forcing her body to keep some distance from his, Viper looked to the side in shame. "Shut the fuck up…"

And there went all the humor in him. It packed its bags and flew out the window as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "Wait… Seriously?"

"I'm… toxic," she cringed. "Brain always said…" With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, Viper turned toward the door, her head downcast and her shoulders hunched. The last thing she'd wanted Erik, of all people, to know was that she was like this.  _'That's why you stayed away, you fucking moron…'_ He should have figured it out, to be honest, but maybe the puzzle pieces hadn't connected for him just yet. "I should just… go…"

"Viper, wait-"

She shook off his hand as he tried to reach for her. "No. Y-You should get checked out, okay? I might've poisoned you." His fingers brushed over her knuckles, and she gasped when the next step had her whirling around with both of his hands firmly on her shoulders, then his lips moving over hers yet again.

' _Oh god. He tastes so fucking good… I just - No! Stop this! You're not good enough for shit like this!'_ She ripped herself away from him, pushing at his chest and taking a step back.

"I don't care about that."

"Are you a fucking idiot?" she growled, glaring with everything she had while her eye burned with angry tears. It just wasn't fair that he would tease her with something like this. Something she knew that she couldn't have, no matter how much she wanted it. "You could die!"

"I highly doubt you have so little control over your magic that you'd poison me just from kissing."

"Yeah, well… They're right, what they say about me in the guild…" She shook her head while his brow lifted in silent question. "Brain knew about the lacrima he put in me. He told me-"

"The same guy that shot you in the back because I beat you?" he asked softly, taking a tentative step closer when her jaw snapped shut. "You're really gonna trust anything he said?"

"H-He… Well, that… B-Brain was..."

"He lied to you," he whispered, his hands coming up to gently cup her cheeks. "He lied about the lacrima, and he lied about your parents. All he ever fucking did was lie to you. He used you, made you what  _he_ wanted, and then threw your ass to the curb."

"M-My parents have nothing to do with this…"

"No, but I bet the scars you've got from the Tower do." Her whole body went rigid and the tears he'd been shocked to find in her eye finally spilled over in a thin trail down her cheek. With a soft sigh, and without thinking about what he was doing, Erik leaned forward and tenderly pressed his lips to the scar from her forehead to her cheek.

"Wh-What…"

"I don't know if you're like me," he whispered as her hands fisted in his shirt. She paused though, and he could feel her shivering in indecision on whether to push him away or pull him closer. "If you've got marks on you from the whips and the beatings. Erza doesn't, so you might have been lucky, too... But, we were all left with shit that'll never go away."

' _I hate it when I have flashbacks… It's why I use that whip, though. To overcome it… I have to…'_

"A-And nightmares," she whimpered. Her grip on his shirt loosened as he swiped her cheek free of tears.  _'He knows about them. My scars… How does he know? I'm so careful!'_

"Viper, if you don't want to kiss me because you're not attracted to me, then fine. I can live with that. But, if it's because you're scared of hurting me-"

"I'm n-not scared of anything," she lied. Even he could see through it that time.

"Then kiss me," he whispered tenderly. "Just once. Trust your magic, and trust  _me_."

The problem for the Poison Slayer was that every time she'd trusted someone, it had bitten her in the ass. She had trusted Brain, and he'd tried to kill her. Trusted Midnight to make the Infinity Clock work, and he'd failed. She had trusted her own goddamn gut in coming to Fairy Tail to find Kinana, and had been given nothing but the cold shoulder for her own shortcomings.

' _Please trust me not to hurt you,'_  his soul whispered.  _'Give me a chance. Just one chance to prove that I care. Beautiful… Radiant… God, I love her threats sometimes… So smart… Takes my breath away just being in the same room… I won't mess this up if she'll have me. I'm tired of being alone. I just want to take her loneliness away… I bet her smile would kill me. Fuck, I'd die grinning…'_

No one had ever thought about her the way Erik did. Sure, men had been interested in her, but never like this. His soul was singing an opera just from being this close to her, while humming a lullaby from the contentment in learning just a little more about her. He was complex, intriguing, but the Celestial mage cared more about taking away  _her_  loneliness than his own.

' _I trust her magic. I feel fine. More than fine. Walking on a fucking cloud in a diaper, kind of fine…'_

Nervously nibbling her lip, Viper whispered, "Just… once?"

Erik smirked down at her, then. "More than that, if you'd like." Her grip on his shirt tightened again as he waited for her to decide, and he well and truly smiled when he felt the slight tug on the fabric, her giving him permission without a single word. Slowly, he closed the distance between them once more, watching her eye slide closed mere moments before his followed suit, his body rippling excitedly when her lips finally puckered against his.

He instinctively moved closer, pulling her body flush against him. Viper's cheeks flushed as his fingers trailed down her arms then laced with hers. He nipped gently at her lower lip, pulling a startled gasp from the blonde as her arms looped around his neck and his hands smoothed over her waist.

A quiet moan rumbled in his chest when she nipped at him in response, her pointed canines scraping lightly over his flesh. Hands gliding over her back, feeling the soft fabric of her jacket, his tongue traced the seam of her lips, once, twice, then teased them into parting.

Raspberries and almond burst across her taste buds as the lithe muscle coaxed hers into a writhing dance. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own while she got lost in the sounds and colors splashing through his soul.

_Joy..._

_Contentment..._

Her fingers sunk into his deep maroon locks and a gentle purr, so foreign to her ears, yet feeling so right that she couldn't question it, rumbled within her as she tried to pull him closer.

Bodies molded together, hands slowly questing in gentle exploration, Viper found her breath stolen as their 'single' kiss became two. Then three. Each one more intense and mind-numbing than the last.

…  _Love._

Erik had to keep telling himself that they wouldn't do anything more than kiss, regardless of what his body was screaming for. And regardless of the sounds she was making that were already fraying his control. They would take it slowly, because the last thing he wanted was for the blonde in his arms to think he only wanted her for her body.

Oh, he would be more than happy to lose himself in the Eden that he just knew was nestled between her thighs, but that could wait. He wanted to be able to touch her soul first. To know who she really was.

" _Mm_ … Erik," she moaned between kisses as his hands unconsciously slid down to cup her ass after pushing beneath her jacket. She could feel his arousal pressing against his pants, pinned between them. Even better, though, was that she could smell it in the air. So dark and sensual, just like his skin that she couldn't help but picture laid out on a bed beneath her.

He wanted Viper to see that life wasn't as lonely or miserable as what she'd already been through. She didn't have to keep holding onto the Tower, or her time with the Oracion Seis. If she let it go, put her trust in him, he could make her see how bright the world really was.

' _Fuck, I want her so badly… But… Shit… I-I'll wait however long she wants. Anything… God, I'm fucking whipped already… O-Oh fuck, don't move your hips like… TH-THAT! She's gonna be the death of me…'_

Their lips slowed, and Erik reluctantly pulled back to rest his forehead against hers while he silently panted. A slow smile spread across his face when her eye opened just enough to look up at him.

"Erik," she whispered in wonder, her cheeks bright red.

"Whatever happened to Raspberry?" he chuckled.

A timid smile barely touched her lips, and the blonde leaned up to lightly nibble on his lip. Her eye slid closed when the dark, musky scent of his arousal intensified. "Didn't you hear me?" she whispered, tenderly suckling the barely swollen bit of flesh. "You'll always be Raspberry to me."

"Maybe I'll just dye my hair then," he chuckled.

She drew back, teasing him with a slightly wider smile. "I'll hold you down and dye it back."

"You wouldn't," he scoffed.

"Oh, I would. And besides…" The way Erik's breath stalled as she leaned in to whisper in his ear was so damn worth it. "You'll still taste like raspberries."

When she drew back, the fact that she was still glowing with a gentle blush nearly sucker punched him right in the gut. He'd never thought he would be able to see Viper like this, and yet… here she was, just proving him wrong in the best way possible.

"So," she said, glancing nervously off to the side. "Now what do we do?"

"Let me take you on a date?"

Her eye went wide as she looked back up at him. "A… A d-date?"

"Yep. A date," he grinned. Erik belatedly realized that he was still holding her body tightly against his, and just before he could move his hands away from what was, hands down, the most perfectly sculpted ass in existence, he found Viper tightening her grip around his shoulders to keep them just the way they were. "I wanted to ask you on a date earlier, y'know."

"I know, but… I mean…"

' _Dinner. Maybe I can take her to the Botanical Gardens, first. She could probably tell me all about the different poisonous plants there. And if she doesn't know about them, then we'll learn together.'_

Viper's lips turned up in a happy, almost giddy, smile. She'd really thought, regardless of how mind-blowing it was to have his lips and hands on her, that Erik would have just moved on from the silly notion of wanted to take her out anywhere. But he still wanted it. He still wanted her. "A date it is, then…" she whispered.

' _Oh god, she's smiling. I've gotta be dead…'_  Erik finally slid his hands on a meandering path up to her pinched waist, glancing quickly at the clock. They still had plenty of time before the Gardens were closed for the day, but he wanted to get as much time with Viper as he possibly could. "Then let's go."

"N-Now?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Right now. No need to change or anything else. You look perfect."

Viper stood perfectly still as he pulled away, her hands gliding down his chest until they fell at her sides. He leaned over just a little and grabbed his keys and whip that had been tossed on the coffee table, and she stiffened when his arm wound around her waist while she was led out of the door, pausing only for him to shrug into his own jacket on the way.

Once they were outside of the apartment building, she looked up at the cloudy sky that signalled a coming snowstorm. "Will you… maybe... teach me about the stars?"

Erik's eyes lit up and he pulled her just a little closer when he felt her starting to shiver. "Anything you want," he whispered.

* * *

A quivering moan escaped Viper as his sweaty body collapsed on top of hers, her hands tightly clutching his scarred back, harsh breaths matching his own. Erik's hips rocked with each pulse of his shaft nestled between her legs, quiet, sated groans rumbling against her sweat-slicked neck.

His scent was everywhere, overloading her sinuses and making her already overly sensitive body roar to life. She could still feel her sex clutching desperately to him in waves, begging the Celestial mage to rip off the condom she was more than glad he'd had the foresight to keep in his nightstand.

The date had been everything she'd never expected to have. The Gardens had been gorgeous, and Erik had bought her a few packets of seeds to plant her own nightshade at her apartment. Dinner was absolutely amazing, and the look on the waiter's face when she'd ordered a glass of all-purpose cleaner was priceless. And Erik… Really, Viper couldn't understand how she'd never realized just how funny he was. Or how twisted his humor was. She'd found out over the course of the night, then got to see his eyes lighting up in a way she'd never expected while they sat in the park and he told her about the constellations that fueled his magic.

She pitied his door though. He'd invited her back over to his place for some hot cocoa, because it was cold as hell outside and they needed to warm up a bit, and by the time they'd reached the landing, only five steps away from the navy door leading to apartment 2B, their lips were harshly biting at one another.

She couldn't remember who had started the kiss, though.

It was the longest five steps of her life just trying to get into the privacy of his apartment, and when he couldn't find the right key, Viper had been on the verge of breaking the stupid thing. Even though she had her back pressed against it.

Luckily his spirit, Virgo, had decided to summon herself and unlock it from the inside.

Viper hardly paid the maid spirit any mind as he'd lifted her to his hips and stormed to his bedroom. She knew he hadn't intended to let it go any farther than kissing, even as she was taken to his bed, but the fact that she'd gotten his control to snap - and hearing just how beautiful it was while he fought to hold himself back, only to cave and give in to his more primal desires - had led to that moment.

Erik let out a low hum while pressing open-mouthed kisses over the swell of her breasts and up to her ear. His lips curved upwards as she moaned again once his breath feathered over the pointed tip.

His hands slid under her, affectionately rippling over the multitude of scars he'd found she had from the Tower. There was no way he could be disgusted by them. It just proved what he already knew to be true about the woman in his arms.

She was a fighter. A beautifully, deadly fighter.

How he'd managed to find himself with Viper in his bed was beyond his mental capacity to understand right then. He knew she wanted to be there, that much he was sure of. If the way she was slowly turning his head and kissing him with everything she was worth, or how her sinfully smooth legs slithered over his, was any indication, the blonde Poison Slayer was more than a little fine with being there.

And god, had she been even more of a treasure to behold once her clothes were off. He'd found out quite a bit about the usually closed off Slayer while they'd been in the Gardens, then during dinner, and even while they'd sat in the park and he'd tried pointing out constellations through the clouds. And, as it turned out, he'd also learned just how breathtaking she was while blushing so intensely it reached down to her rose-colored nipples.

Uncomfortable hadn't even begun to describe her once he saw her scars, but he'd done everything he could think of to ease her fears.

He'd asked her if she was sure enough times that she had almost punched him. But, it was her first time. He wanted to be sure that it was something  _she_ wanted. Especially since she'd only been kissed for the first time a few hours before.

Luckily, Viper wanted him to be her first.

Watching her violet eye darken with lust, widening as he'd slowly brought his fingers to her sex, how it rolled back as her pleasure mounted… Erik had never seen something so breathtaking.

He hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her, or pulls his lips far from hers, once he replaced his fingers, drenched in her arousal, with his hips between her too-tempting thighs. Erik hadn't wanted to miss a single thing Viper had to offer. How her fingers had trembled while touching his own scarred flesh, how tenderly she'd run her hands over him when she realized just how similar they were. The breathy moans, soft growls, aroused purrs. The way her pointed canines had drawn blood while she bit her lip. Her surprise when he had leaned down to swipe his tongue across the little punctures.

That had surprised both of them, actually. And Erik had found out that Viper's blood sent fire flooding his veins, and made his body hyper-aware of everything. Things were a little hazy after that, but he was sure his neighbors hated him now, mainly because the only thing he really could recall was Viper screaming his name. Repeatedly.

His lips pulled from hers hesitantly, and a lazy grin settled over them. "Damn," he panted. "You're… Wow..."

"No shit," Viper giggled, nipping gently at his kiss-swollen lips. "You've got some stamina."

"And you are too damn tempting," he rasped, sinking further into her sweet embrace and coaxing her tongue into another slow dance.

Erik moaned into the kiss as he withdrew his softened member from her, and he quickly tied the rubber off and leaned over to toss it into the trashcan, only to laugh as she pulled him back to her lips. Apparently, she was just as affectionate as he could be, and he definitely didn't have a problem with that.

"Making up for…  _Mmm_ … lost time…" she whispered between kisses.

"Lost time?"

She blushed when he drew back to look down at her curiously. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to kiss you."

Erik chuckled quietly. "Tell me."

Viper looked away, her cheeks flaming brilliantly when he turned her to face him again. "Since we met…"

His eyes widened, then he grinned. "You're not the only one."

"I know," she laughed. "I heard you back then, too. I'm wishing I'd done it sooner."

It was only when she pulled him down into another kiss that quickly intensified, that a devious grin split his lips.  _"Well, I might need some time to recuperate,"_ he told her silently. _"But you…"_

Viper let out a sultry laugh as she watched Erik's head descend the length of her body, her breath catching when he paused to shower the scar between her breasts, where the lacrima had been implanted, with affection.

' _She's perfect… I'm so lucky…'_

Erik smiled up at the blonde as her fingers sifted through his hair, her thumbs tenderly brushing over his cheeks.

"Tell me something?" she whispered breathily.

"Anything."

Viper nibbled her lip nervously, her hips shifting slightly as his tongue dipped into her navel. "Is this… normal?"

"Me going down on you?" Erik chuckled. "It will be, yeah."

She shook her head and rolled her eye. "No, ass," she laughed. His head dipped between her legs, and Viper whimpered when she felt his warm breath across her sex. His hands brushed back and forth over her thighs as he pulled her legs over his shoulders, and her head lifted to peer down at him when she felt his lips pressing gentle, open-mouthed kisses to her sensitive flesh.

"You had a question?" he whispered. His tongue dragged up her slit when she got ready to speak, and the way she shuddered and let out a small squeak of surprise had his smile widening.

"Y-You make me," she whimpered, "Feel like my heart's melting… A-And exploding… A-And…  _Nngh_ …"

His eyes lifted slowly as his mouth closed over her, gently prodding her entrance with his tongue.

"And… I wanna hate you… But…  _Oh god…_  I c-can't…"

' _That's how she makes me feel all the time…'_

"What is it?" Viper gasped as two fingers slipped into her while he started teasing her clit with his lips and tongue.

' _Should I tell her? I know I feel it, but I don't want to scare her off. Not now… Not ever.'_

"T-Tell me?"

"Later," he groaned softly.  _'It's too soon to tell her I love her. Way too soon… Fuck! I bet she heard me… Shit… Um…'_

"Don't stop," Viper moaned. "Talk l-later… Fuck…"

" _Gihi… Little Red, I think you should come home with me. He's got company."_

"God, you taste delicious, Viper," Erik groaned against her sex, his fingers moving faster as her hips rolled.

" _What? Gajeel, I wanted to check on Erik. I know she upset him. He's been alone long enough."_

"C-Call me Lucy," she rasped. She nearly whined when he froze and looked up at her in shock. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop the glorious magic he was working between her legs. When he finally smiled at her, with his dimples making an appearance for the umpteenth time that night, the blonde swore she saw stars and sakura petals in the air behind him.

"My pleasure," he purred. "Lucy…"

Her eye widened when he dove down and started moving more quickly. His tongue, teeth, lips, and fingers all pushing her to the brink of insanity.

" _I smell a snake in his bed."_

" _Oh…"_

"O-Oh, Erik!" she cried out. "E-Erik… Right there!"

" _OH! Viper is… They're… Oh wow… Well, then… Yes, I would love to go home with you."_

Lucy was breathless as her indigo eye slid closed, and she could do nothing more than let herself get lost in pleasure at the hands of Fairy Tail's Celestial mage.  _'Love… I… I think he's onto something…'_

She'd never felt anything like what the maroon-haired mage was able to do to her. Not just her body, but her very soul. He had rocked her to the core, burrowed beneath years of armor and pain and torment, and found the innocent girl she had once been.

"O-Oh god… Erik!"

Her eye opened again as he moved to hover over her as soon as her back was resting on the bed again. She could see it in his eyes once the condom was rolled over him and he slowly pushed back into her. He really loved her.

He loved her, she knew that, and instead of shying away from it… She was going to accept it.

Shuddering moans filled the air, passionate cries breaking up the sounds of their heavy breathing as the night wore on. Neither mage cared that Erik had left his bedroom window open and the corset Viper had been wearing was hanging halfway out of it, or that the bed was soaked with sweat by the time they collapsed into an exhausted pile of limbs hours later.

"Fuck," Erik panted against her shoulder, his chest against her back. "Lucy… Fuck, I love you…" By then, he was too far gone to realize what he was saying.

She smiled, reaching behind her to sift her fingers through his sweat-matted hair and pull him just a little closer. "I love you too, Erik."

That definitely drew his attention. When he moved to look her in the eye, he found one emotion he'd never imagined. She wasn't lying, not that he'd thought she would. But Lucy, the Poison Dragon Slayer that had tried to kill him twice, who had fought so hard to keep herself locked away from the rest of the guild because she didn't think she was capable of caring for anyone… Who thought she had done too much damage to others to deserve love… That she was too broken to love anyone… She loved him.

"Always, Kili," she laughed breathlessly.

"Very funny, Tauriel," Erik chuckled. He withdrew and threw the tied off condom away, grinning when she rolled over to face him. "Sexy little elf."

"Creepy fucking dwarf."

"Touché. But you love my creepy dwarf body."

"Well… Yeah, I guess you got me there…" She sighed as he tucked her into his chest, listening to his heart return to its normal tempo and how his soul was humming. She could feel it wrapping around her, just as his arms did, enveloping her in warmth that she had never thought she could experience.

_**.The End.** _


End file.
